Belus : an album crushed by the weight of expectations, the realization that men are not gods, and subsequent reveling in destroying those gods. Not grouping all those who legitimately dislike this, but much of the reaction to Belus mirrors the way Americans and British cannibalize celebrities after they've run their course through tabloid culture.

In searching for the best in life (and in this specific case; music) I employ the following system to listening to music to save "wasting time" on mediocre / worthless / below par releases.

Anything that I consider to be 55% or less is attributed to the compost bin. I don't bother comparing this to the greats, I'd rather spend time focusing on the very best (ie focusing on the positive end of the bell curve distribution). On a 5-star system like I use on RYM, this is a 0.5.

Unfortunately Belus (whilst it certainly delivers in a few patches) is inconsistent, and lacks the vision and spirit of the early work. It does not create any resonance within my mind; it doesn't help me dream.

Perhaps the "disappointment" is a form of celebrity murder, ala the tabloids, but is there any reason why we should bother with albums that would scrap up a C-grade rating if they were lucky?

It simply does not hold up. I am actively searching for the best 100-150 albums in Metal, and this is no where near it as far as I am concerned.

Those 100 albums might be better appreciated if you listened to the next 100 once and a while too. Even primo pussy gets boring man.

This situation is like watching your favorite fighter continue to step into the arena after his prime. Flashes of the old footwork, speed and talent might be there, and the joy of just watching him compete is enough for some fans. Yet it's perfectly reasonable why other true diehard fans of said fighter would rather avoid watching him compete, in that state, all together. I liken this more to the first Leon Spinks fight than Larry Holmes or Trevor Berbick.

When a staunch DEATH METAL elitist and troll meets an unabashed Burzum fanboy...

Yo here is another confession ; Burzum isn't even the best Black Metal.

That's a bit unfair, not everyone who likes Burzum is a Burzum fanboy. I listen to a lot more death metal, and I listen to death metal a lot more often, but I still feel Burzum is of higher quality. Is Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, which is probably their peak, necessarily my taste? No, I love listening to it when the time is right, but if you're going to find me listening to Burzum regularly it's most likely going to be Det Som Engang Var or the self-titled I'm listening to. I know there's a stigma about Burzum being unbeatable by all of their fanboys, as you put it, but we don't need to shatter it by pretending that we hate the group, or that their quality is lower than it actually is, just to prove a point.